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Revista Médica de Risaralda
Print version ISSN 0122-0667
Abstract
GUEVARA-GARAY, Luz Andrea; CUARTAS-CASTANO, Diego Alejandro and LLANO-NARANJO, Felipe. Kappa casein of milk: productive, molecular, biochemical and nutritional aspects. Revista médica Risaralda [online]. 2014, vol.20, n.1, pp.29-33. ISSN 0122-0667.
Casein is a phosphoprotein secreted in the milk of most mammal species. It belongs to a group of proteins coded by four genes, namely a s1, a s2, β and κ, which are organized in micelles or soluble units. Proteins from this group have a high content of essential amino acids. These molecules are separated by precipitation from the aqueous part by enzymes, such as chymosin, during the production of cheese. Moreover, the caseins, kappa-casein plays a major role on milk coagulation, thus, influencing the rennet formation time, the curd production rate and the consistency of cheese made for human consumption. Knowledge on the factors involved in regulating kappa-casein levels in milk, is of the most relevant aspects to milk producers and dairy product manufacturers given that an increase in its content, may improve milk yield and finally, economic profit.
Keywords : Milk proteins; cattle; feeding; dairy products.